My view is that buffets in any country are higher risk, not so much due to the cooks, but the diseased customers engaging in unsafe practices. Japan has very safe food and the buffets are great. One thing about some of the buffets there that I find funny is that they charge men more to eat than women. We went to 1 buffet where I had to pay $1 more than my wife but some charge men as much as $5 more.
Vietnam isnāt a very unique part of the world. There are almost 100 million people living there. My opinion is pretty mainstream.
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Buffets are very high risk, as no/very very few locals eat there. They donāt care much about quality or return business.
The small street vendors feed their neighbors. Poisoning them is bad business. When there is a busy street cart or tiny street restaurant, you know the food will be good, and safe. This mentality has worked in pretty much every corner of the world Iāve been to, and Iāve traveled quite a bit more than average.
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Re the previous discussion of Indian food in Japan: the best Indian food Iāve ever had was in Tokyo. (Full disclosure Iāve not been to India, but Iāve been to Indian in most major cities like Dallas, Houston, dc, nyc, sf). My wife and I had had sushi/ Japanese for 5 amazing days but needed a break. Apparently, there is a small but well established Indian population in Tokyo and we found a random place on TripAdvisor that was amazingly reviewed. We went there and of course, couldnāt read the menu, but just asked them for five plates of whatever they cooked the bestā¦ It was mind blowing
Recently, I was talking to a medical student whoās parents are Indian and she was commenting about how she rarely eats Indian food out because itās so expensiveā¦ I pointed out to her that it totally makes senseā¦ In general, Indian immigrants are some of the most successful financially, so it would be logical that they donāt need to be cheap about their ingredientsā¦ When I go out to good Indian restaurants, there are plenty of people there who appear to be of Indian heritageā¦ But they donāt seem to need to be cheap e on the ingredientsā¦ you can find cheap ethnic food of many other varieties, but you wonāt often find a dive Indian restaurant and that totally makes sense if they are eating out, they are elevated the experience and likely have the resources to pay( obviously, there are exceptions to this generalization, but I do think that in general, I was on something) interestingly, she had never processed it in this way
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I believe that you are correct.
My long time alter ego Jim Rogers got a Guinness World record for traveling around the world on his motorcycle:
Then he went around the world in his car:
They ate whatever they could find at the time. Sometimes it sounded sketchy?
They ONLY got sick twice on the multi-year trip. 
Both times at 5 star Hotels!! 
Go figureā¦ā¦
Getting a little off topic but oh well!
Thatās an awesome adventure, and thatās exactly how things are around the world. You donāt get sick eating at the local joints, you get sick at the hotel buffet thatās included in your group tour package.
Those places donāt give a damn as they know you will never return.
Like Bourdain said. The small mom-and-pop street kitchens feed their neighbors, and poisoning them is bad business. A buffet that caters for once-in-a-lifetime tourist groups donāt give a damn. A while back I worked at a place that solely catered for this clientele, and the level of corruption and kickbacks was eye opening.
Iāve been to around 120 countries, and eaten at some pretty questionable spots as I usually eat pretty local. Only place where I ever got really sick was in Santiago De Chile where I ate at the executive lounge buffet at a 5 star hotel.
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because we have no great offers from dN LOL
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You are correct.
I have performed research on the wines available within the bottle shop that I might purchase a case they hold a the end of year 30% off sale. Other than that its only 34 days until Beserkers Day 2025!
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as long as we are off topic, best Indian food I had was in Christchurch NZ at a place called Mumbaiwala. And I live in Northern NJ and we have plenty of ālocalā Indian options here too. Go figureā¦
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I used to live in the Indian food capital of the world, UK Midlands. I have never found a good Indian restaurant in the US.
(and yes, I know none of this is actual Indian food, i generally dislike food in India).
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How about starting a new thread?
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Between drinking less and other life events, I really havenāt been paying much attention to the DN offers since around 400 or so. But as I update CT, it might be time to start keeping an eye out for some DN PN deals, about to run out of N.165 and N.176 and N.270 has been outstanding and that will probably not last long.
Just trying to get the vibe here on how the current round of offers have been to see if it is worth dipping my toe back in with DN.
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Daniel,
Some '23 RRV Pinots like 501 and 506 (low stock) in bottle shop now. Not much else, unsure what is in the pipeline- maybe John Dutko can post TTB listings. Myself had the 165 last evening. Drink up now. 176 and 270 over case each just starting to drink them, 1st 270 was outstanding.
Being Bay Area locals, Iām always on K&Lās email list, theyāve had some interesting 2022 Oregon Pinots at reasonable prices. Happy Hunting.
Cheers, Tim
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We were already thinking of just eyeing the K&L offers and stocking up as needed on cellar defender Pinots. Letās just say we got spoiled from the heyday of the dN offers and quality 
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Out of curiosity, I tried to see what AVA areas & countries (Australia, France, Italy, Spain, US) I had ordered de NĆ©goce wines from over the past four years and came up with this:
- Alexander Valley (1/3 case) Zinfandel
- Anderson Valley (1 case) Gewurztraminer
- Atlas Peak (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Barossa Valley (4 cases) Shiraz
- Calistoga Hillside (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Chalk Hill (4 cases) Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah
- Clare Valley (1 case) Riesling
- Columbia Valley (9 cases) Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah
- Combsville (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Coonawarra (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Costieres Vignes (1 case) GSM
- DāAlba (1 case) Barbera
- DOCG IT (1 case) Barolo
- Dry Creek (2 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Fair Play District (2 cases) Petite Sirah, Syrah
- Horse Heaven Hills (4 cases) Malbec, Merlot, Petite Verdot
- Howell Mountain (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Lanquedoc/Cesseras (1 case) Petite Sirah
- Lodi (1 case) Petite Sirah
- McDowell Valley (1 case) Petite Sirah
- McLaren Valley (1 case) Shiraz
- Mendocino (3 cases) Carignan, Zinfandel
- Minervois La Liveniere (1 case) SCGM (70% Sirah)
- Napa Valley (10 cases) Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Malbec, Meritage, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah
- Oakville (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Paso Robles (2 cases) Albarino, Tannat
- Red Mountain (9 cases) Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvedre/Syrah
- Russian River (9 cases) Carignan, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel
- Rutherford āHillsideā (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Santa Barbara County (1 case) Nebbiolo
- Santa Ynez Valley (2 case) Grenache, Viognier
- Sonoma Moutain (3 cases) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Spring Moutain (2 cases) Cabernet Sauvignon
- St. Helena/Rutherford (1 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Stags Leap (1/2 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Va de Vid Rueda (1/2 case) Verejo
- Vin de France (1/2 case) Cabernet Sauvignon
- Walla Walla (10 cases) Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Charbono/Nebbiolo, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Syrah
- Xavier Vignon (1 case) Lirac (Grenache/Syrah)
What a great introduction of different varietals and terroirs Cameron Hughes introduced us to over the past few years. Iām sure there will be something here to bring in the New Year! The Best-to-All.
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Boris, 
Thank you for sharing your awesome wine list. Yummy 
May you have super double extra enjoyment as you prudently consume your delicious treasures. 
Happy New Year to All! 
Cheers 
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I wonāt discuss travel, food or cooking.
So Iāll discuss money 
Will our VIP levels deflate with the new year??
i.e. will Grand Cru vips become Vin de Table tomorrow morning?
Same with Premier Cru & Villages? Downgraded to Vin de Tableā¦.?
I believe we may know in the fullness of time. 
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Note at the top of CHwine.com
āCamās BackāJust in Time for the Holidays!ā
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If true, it will take him at least 12-18 months to have an impact on new inventory.
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What is the NEW Cameron Hughes Wines link on Wine Berserkers? Will there be also a What Cameron Hughes wine are you drinking tonight link to get the latest āreviewsā of tasted CH wines?
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